I freaking love Jolly Ranchers, bro. But only the green apple ones. The rest can go suck it. Especially the grape ones.
(Grape-flavored candy in general is terrible.)

Jolly Ranchers remind me of my dad’s old condo. Back in 7th grade I’d walk there after school, go upstairs to the computer, and eat Jolly Ranchers while I acted like 2001’s Biggest Troll in the Yahoo! chatrooms.

Fun times.

Why are they called “Jolly Ranchers” anyway?

TO THE WIKI-MOBILE!

“Bill Harmsen founded the Jolly Rancher Company in 1949 with the goal of having a name that seemed friendly and welcoming to customers.

Makes sense. I guess “Angry Cattleman” wouldn’t sound as appealing.

“Jolly ranchers are amorphous solids, meaning their molecular arrangements have no specific pattern. They are hard, brittle, rigid, transparent and have low molecular mobility.”

Your MOM has low molecular mobility.

Also, I HAVE AN AMORPHOUS SOLID IN MY MOUTH

“Jolly Ranchers are manufactured by creating a solution of corn syrup, sucrose, glucose, or fructose syrup that is boiled to a temperature of 160 °C and cooled to create a supersaturated mixture that is roughly 2.5 percent water. As the mixture is cooled, natural and artificial flavoring, artificial colors (red 40, blue 1, yellow 5, yellow 6.specific) is added to individual batches of syrup solution which is later mixed with malic acid to improve shelf life and add further flavor. Once the mixture begins to cool it is then extruded into long malleable strings that are cut to size and individually wrapped and packaged”

So I’ve been really into posting links to recipes over the past year or so, right? Well, last night I decided to just make a giant Word document containing the ingredients/instructions for my favorite of said posted recipes, just in case they ever get taken down.

I like looking at recipes, even though the vast majority of them contain way too many ingredients for my taste and are probably not something I would enjoy. Every once and awhile, though, I find some that sound good.

I don’t know if it’s the case in the States, but McDonald’s Canada is starting up their annual (I think?) Monopoly game tomorrow. My mom and I always used the Monopoly game as an excuse to get McDonald’s fries, ‘cause we all know they make the best fast food French fries in the world (apart from maybe Cougar Country).
Anyway, intrigue regarding the history of McDonald’s Monopoly led me to Wiki, which led me to reading about the company. Whether you consider the corporation evil or not, it really does have an interesting history and interesting facts surrounding it.

The business began in 1940 and “McDonald’s” was up for trademark status in 1961.

There are McDonald’s in 119 countries and territories, serving 58 million people daily and employing 1.5+ million people (I would think it would be more than that).

Nearly 1 in 8 people in the United States have been employed by McDonald’s at some point.

Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary added the word “McJob” in 2003. It was defined as “a low-paying job that requires little skill and provides little opportunity for advancement.” Obviously, McDonald’s was rather ticked off about this definition.

Product-specific facts

In countries/markets unfamiliar with Imperial measurements, the Quarter Pounder is known as the Royal Cheese or McRoyale (or a similar variant).

While some countries sell Egg McMuffins around the clock, the product is restricted to the breakfast menu. This is mainly due to the fact that the grill temperature for the burgers is significantly different than that for the eggs.